Saturday, December 17, 2011

Get found, kid!

One of my favorite authors of all time is Robert Fulghum who wrote All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. His books are a collection of stories and anecdotes written in a very comical and thoughtful way. One of the stories in his book was about watching the neighborhood kids play hide and seek, and he reflected on the one kid that hid too well. After awhile, the rest of the kids "seeking" grew tired, and stopped looking for him. They weren't having any fun.

At the workshop this week I had a small epiphany as I was standing at my easel (which is surprising since I was weak with laughter every other minute from some of the antics of the other artists)....I spent the first 40 something years of my life "hiding" from who I really was, putting on pretend faces not just in my personality but in my art as well. I painted things that were boring and safe, composed in a lackluster way. My personality was not coming through in the choices in my art, I was "hiding" too well....... I didn't understand until now why there wasn't any "seekers". When giving the lesson on creating a composition in class today, Carol emphasized that our art and composition should be something we are really excited about, or why bother? I realized that the particular items I set up were the safe ones, but what I really wanted to paint was the rubber ducky. So I did. While it certainly isn't my best painting I've ever done, I can say for certain it is the one I am most excited about. Get Found Kid!

You are very insightful, Kristen! I wholeheartedly agree that we must not hide from ourselves or others. It was a real joy to be in the workshop with you. Your delightful personality took center stage...bravo!